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After several decades of designing abstractly for works
of leaded glass, Chuck Manning turned his attention to landscape
painting in the early 1990s. Since childhood he has enjoyed
graphic arts, only in recent years has he been able to pursue
interests in watercolor and now oil mediums.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1949, Chuck has lived
in Tallahassee, Florida since 1985. The oldest of four children,
his family moved frequently while he was growing up, living
in upstate New York, Missouri, Colorado, Virginia and North
Carolina. As a high school junior Chuck learned to design
and assemble leaded glass. Using that skill, he was able
to supplement his parent’s financial help throughout
college at Ohio State University, then at the University
of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. After college he found
a job in Bath, Maine, where he lived for several years before
moving to Florida
Chuck is largely self-taught, but has been very fortunate
to have a friend and mentor in John Stanford, a southeastern
regional painter, who has generously shared his knowledge
and is a close friend. Chuck believes painting on site,
out-of-doors (en plein air) is enjoyable, if challenging
and the exercise enhances his studio work. While his painting
style is closer to realism, he notes that the best realistic
images begin with a strong abstract design. When not at
work he travels throughout the United States enjoying and
studying the local landscape (coastal Maine, New Mexico
Arizona and Florida’s panhandle). Most of his images
begin as a sketch, which eventually evolves into larger
charcoal drawings on cardboard of the same dimensions as
the final painting. He also uses photographs and painted
plain air oil studies to help render details selected for
the final version of the image.
Chuck resides in Tallahassee, Florida, where he has lived
since moving to the area in 1985 from Maine, returning there
annually to his other studio. He has developed a following
among collectors of North Florida regional and coastal Maine
landscapes.
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